• 'Jury' returns vote of confidence in central bank EUROPE - Morgan Stanley Dean Witter, the US investment bank, recently held a conference at which the main attraction was a mock trial of the European Central Bank, as reported in the FT London. 3-July-2001
• Bank of England Huntingdon's banker UK - The drug-testing company at the centre of an intimidation campaign by animal rights activists is to be given banking facilities by the UK Government at the Bank of England. 2-July-2001
• Japan's new Banks Shareholding Acquisition Corporation (BSAC) JAPAN - A new state agency, the Banks Shareholding Acquisition Corporation (BSAC) is being set up in Japan to tackle the problems caused by the large shareholdings that Japanese banks have in many Japanese companies. 2-July-2001
• Japanese regulator penalises Goldman JAPAN - Japanese regulators slapped heavy penalties on Goldman Sachs on 27 June after the US bank admitted it had misquoted prices in the online warrants market in Tokyo, as reported in the FT London. 29-June-2001
• Search on for new European Central Bank President? EUROPE - On 28 June Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker of Luxembourg confirmed that he was approached about the upcoming position of ECB president, although he said he wouldn't want it. Austrian Finance Minister Karl-Heinz Grasser said on 29 June that the debate about who will succeed Wim Duisenberg as president of the European Central Bank was not helping the euro. 29-June-2001
• Indonesia may delay central bank law debate INDONESIA - The Indonesian government is considering a parliamentary proposal to delay debating controversial central bank law amendments. 29-June-2001
• Euro 2002 Information Campaign SPEECH - Wim Duisenberg, delivered a speech at a conference hosted by the Central Bank of Ireland, in Dublin on 20 June at the Bank of Ireland's Arts Centre. Duisenberg said "The ECB has decided that the frontloading and sub-frontloading of euro banknotes and coins can start as of 1 September 2001. Frontloading is the advance distribution of euro banknotes and coins to those credit institutions that are counterparties for monetary policy operations within the Eurosystem. Credit institutions can sub-frontload euro banknotes and coins to professional groups (retailers, cash-in-transit companies, cash-operated machine industry), provided that certain conditions are fulfilled." The full text of the speech can be read at http://www.ecb.int/key/01/sp010620.htm 26-June-2001
• Putin signs federal banking law in Russia RUSSIA - President Putin signed the Federal laws "on amendments to the law on banks and banking" and "on amendments to article N73 of the federal law on the Central Bank of Russia. Both of the draft laws were submitted to the Duma under recommendation of the IMF. 25-June-2001
• India's central bank issues Net banking guidelines INDIA - Only banks licensed in India and operating a domestic branch network will be allowed to offer Internet banking in the country, according to guidelines finalised last week by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). The guidelines are available on the central bank's website, www.rbi.org.in 22-June-2001
• Argentina links to the euro ARGENTINA - The Argentine Senate has approved a new law that will fix its currency to the euro as well as to the dollar. One peso is now fixed at one dollar and will become fixed to one euro, as soon as the euro rises to parity with the dollar. When the euro then rises or falls against the dollar, the peso will be set at the mid value between the two currencies. 22-June-2001
• Hungarian parliament passes new central bank act HUNGARY - The Hungarian parliament passed the new Central Bank Act late evening of 19 June. The new act relegates supervisory authority over the National Bank of Hungary (MNB) to the State Audit Office (ASZ), and replaces the current central bank council with a so-called monetary council. 21-June-2001
• Monetary policy and financial markets SPEECH - Professor Otmar Issing, Member of the Executive Board of the European Central Bank, gave a speech 'Monetary policy and financial markets' at the ECB Watchers Conference, Frankfurt, June 2001. The full text of the speech is available at http://www.ecb.int/key/01/sp010618.htm 18-June-2001
• Canada's inflation target setting could be better CANADA - The Bank of Canada's new regime for setting inflation targets is an improvement on the old, but the bank could do even better, according to a new report from the C.D. Howe Institute. 15-June-2001
• BIS publishes its latest Annual Report BIS - The Bank for International Settlements issued its 71st annual report at 12.00 European time on Monday June 11. Commentary and analysis of the report can be found on our professional subscription service www.CentralBankNet.com. The report is also available from the BIS web-site at http://www.bis.org/publ/ar2001e.htm 11-June-2001
• Sharing regulatory and supervisory responsibility SPEECH - Edgar Meister, member of the directorate of the Deutsche Bundesbank, gave a speech on 9 June at the Multinational Banking Seminar in New York. "How should regulatory and supervisory responsibilities be shared among the national functional regulators?" In the speech Edgar Meister says that the design of regulatory and supervisory responsibilities is one of the most important matters affecting the future course of financial market policy. However, there is little agreement on the question of how this should be done. Read the full text of the speech at http://www.bundesbank.de/de/presse/reden/pdf/meister090601.pdf 9-June-2001
• Communicating Canadian monetary policy SPEECH - Paul Jenkins, Deputy Governor of the Bank of Canada has made a speech titled 'Communicating Canadian monetary policy: towards greater transparency'. He was speaking at the Ottawa Economics Association, Ottawa, on 22 May. The speech can be viewed at http://www.bis.org/review/r010530c.pdf 6-June-2001
• Central Bank of Algeria's web site 'hacked into' ALGERIA - At 5pm (UK time) on 5 June the home page of the Central Bank of Algeria www.bank-of-algeria.dz could be accessed but clicking any link beyond this brought a message in French containing swear words and vague references to stopping a massacre. 5-June-2001
• SE Asian central bank governors begin meeting SINGAPORE - The annual conference of Governors of the South-East Asian Central Banks (SEACEN) needs to focus on ways to maintain its relevance amid a proliferation of regional and international forums, a Singapore government minister said on 31 May. 31-May-2001
• Banks and Systemic Risk - Theory and Evidence SPEECH - David Clementi, Deputy Governor of the Bank of England and a member of the Bank's Monetary Policy Committee spoke on 23 May at a conference of the Bank of England in London. http://www.bankofengland.co.uk/speeches/speech130.htm 23-May-2001
• Roles of Thai central bank likely to be separated THAILAND - Thai Finance Minister Somkid Jatusripitak said on 14 May that the central bank of Thailand will likely be separated into two independent organisations under a revised restructuring plan that he drafted. 14-May-2001

• An Academic Response to Basel II submitted by LSE Financial Markets Group can be found by clicking at the website below. In their opinion the new Basel II proposals have failed to address many of the key failings of the global financial system, and may even present a destabilizing influence. The web-address for this article is http://risk.lse.ac.uk/rr/files/JD-01-6-19-992957996-8.pdf
• Reforming Bank Capital Regulation - a Joint Statement by a sub-group of the Shadow Financial Regulatory Committees of Europe, Japan, Latin America, and the United States. This statement sets out the principles on which a system of bank capital regulation should be based, shows how the proposed New Basel Capital Accord fails to meet these standards, and provides recommendations which would significantly improve capital regulations. The statement can be found at http://www.aei.org/shdw/shdwjoint010618.htm
  

In view of its importance to central bankers and supervisors, Centralbanknet has put together a guide to the key elements of the proposals and the most important criticism and analysis of them. To subscribe to Centralbanknet please log on to www.CentralBankNet.com

• Worried about Financial Stability? - Phil Davis (formerly of the Bank of England Financial Stability wing, now at Brunel University) moderates a lively email discussion forum on financial stability.
  You can find out more at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/financial_stability
  
  As it stands roughly a third of the group are from central banks, finance ministries and regulators; another third are from the academic community; with the remainder being connected to private sector financial institutions (8%), international organizations (20%) and elsewhere. 31% are based in the UK, 49% in the EU/EEA, 15% in the Americas, and 5% in Japan